Investors and analysts are typically super focused on company earnings numbers when they are reported. Company earnings are a good way to evaluate the company profitability. Currently, sell-side analysts are expecting Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) to report quarterly EPS of $1.79. The company’s next earnings report is expected to be published on or around 2016-10-19 for the period ending on 2016-09-30.

Whether a company misses or beats analyst estimates, the earnings report may guide short-term stock price movemments. Investors may also take note of the directional trend of estimates before a company’s earnings report. Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX) most recently posted actual quarterly EPS of $1.8 compared to the Zacks Research consensus estimate of $1.64. The resulting difference was $0.16 creating a surprise factor of 9.76%. 12 brokerage firms are currently covering Lam Research Corporation. These analysts polled by Zacks Research currently have a mean target price of $101.25 on the stock. The highest target is currently $110 and the most conservative target sees the stock hitting $85 within the year. In looking at the standard deviation of all estimates, we arrive at 7.863.

Zacks Research uses an analyst ratings scale from 1 to 5. On this scale, a 1 would represent a Strong Buy, and a 5 rating would signal a Strong Sell recommendation. Combining all the recommendations on Lam Research Corporation (NASDAQ:LRCX), the mean currently stands at 1.25. Breaking those down we see that the ratings are as follows: 10 Strong Buy, 1 Rated Buy, 1 Rated Hold and 0 Rated Sell.

Analyst recommendations and estimates are for informational purposes only and should be used along with a number of other factors when considering an investment position. Part of the data in this report is derived from Zacks Research and FactSet. Ratings and estimates change daily and thus the numbers may differ slightly if a new report has been issued within the last 24-hours. The consensus numbers take into account the reports from over 160 brokerage firms. The job of analysts is to issue recommendations for their clients, and not typically for the general public. Analyst forecasts, earnings estimates and price target projections are issued to help their clients make money through stock investments. We in no way are suggesting that readers make any decision based on the information in this report.